It’s been a wild past 24 hours in the NFL coaching carousel, but it looks like the Colts have secured their top target as Josh McDaniels is expected to accept the job when offered.
Throughout the process of looking for a new head coach to replace Chuck Pagano in Indianapolis, it became clear that Patriots offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels was the guy the Colts wanted to lead this team in the future.
It reportedly came down to McDaniels and Mike Vrabel as Chris Ballard’s top two targets in his first head coaching search as an NFL general manager, but Vrabel’s candidacy seemed like a backup plan if McDaniels decided to go elsewhere.
Colts fans began to get nervous this morning when the Titans’ head coaching job opened up after they parted ways with Mike Mularkey. McDaniels had a connection with Tennessee’s general manager Jon Robinson, and the Titans are a desirable destination for an NFL head coach.
However, NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport and Tom Pelissero are reporting that McDaniels is expected to accept the Colts’ head coaching job whenever the position is offered to him.
The #Colts have held strong with their pursuit of #Patriots OC Josh McDaniels and that is expected to be his choice when an offer comes, sources tell me and @TomPelissero.
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) January 15, 2018
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The Patriots are currently continuing their quest towards back-to-back Super Bowl Championships, so the Colts can’t officially give him the job until New England’s season is over.
McDaniels could essentially choose any job he wanted this offseason as he was one of the hottest head coaching candidates. The fact that he chose the Colts over attractive jobs like Detroit and Tennessee is extremely encouraging.
McDaniels had to get some sort of assurance about Andrew Luck’s health if he were to take this job. McDaniels has a good relationship with Jacoby Brissett, but there’s no way he chooses Indianapolis without a good feeling that Andrew Luck will be his quarterback in 2018.
I think Colts fans should be happy about hiring McDaniels. He obviously had a rough head coaching tenure in Denver, but he’s still only 41 years old and he’s likely learned from the mistakes he made with the Broncos.
I have a ton of faith in how Chris Ballard continues to build this roster, so I trust that he also has good judgment in selecting a new head coach.
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Let the Josh McDaniels era in Indianapolis begin.